Shorty Short
by Llyrica
Summary: Shorts focusing on different Naruto characters. Ch. 1: What Kakashi was thinking when he led Ryuishi out of Konoha from chapter 55 of Of the River and the Sea by Alleycat4eva. A fanfic of a fanfic because Kakashi is awesome. Ch. 2: A short for Itachi, not specifically from canon or fanfic; it could be made to fit many fics or even canon I guess.
1. Kakashi's Shorty Short

Kakashi:

Kakashi wrote out his report to the Hokage while Ryuishi showered. The spa day had been a bizarre experience for him, and he wanted to get the details right for the Hokage. Maybe he could get bonus pay for having to put up with such ridiculous things? Even if it had been oddly relaxing and refreshing, and – nope, he will not do it again. Definitely never again.

Ryuishi had been in the shower for a while, and should be out soon, but then again, Ryuishi seemed to have an inordinate fondness for his shower, and may spend more time in there just to throw him off or annoy him. Suddenly, Kakashi felt a disturbance in her chakra, and soon after there was a twist of chakra that he recognized came from a summon returning.

Her features were a tightly controlled mask at first glance, but Kakashi could read the utter fury and bloodlust that lurked just beneath the surface when Ryuishi emerged from his bathroom. She quickly and mechanically packed her belongings, turned to him, and said, "Trigger, out of the village, now." He calmly began to lead her out of the village. Asking her about the trigger would likely make it worse, and it was best to get her away from Konoha as efficiently and quietly as possible. Kakashi had seen her act as a capable kunoichi; he'd seen her act as a harmless civilian; he'd seen her try and relax and just be a person; but now he was seeing how she could have been the one to devastate a hidden village. They didn't need a repeat performance to occur in Konoha. Though they would be able to stop her, damage would be unavoidable, and the consequences of subduing her would likely be disastrous for the village when her network of people and connections became aware of the situation.

Did her effort to control herself mean that she actually cared about their "friendship" and by extension, Konoha? Or was there something more to this? After all, he knew that she seemed to have been extremely close to her teammates in Kiri and she cared more about them that she did about him, at this point. At least, that's what he thought. Had she been triggered and no one was nearby to restrain her? Had she simply not cared enough for Kiri or her teammates? Or had she put so much faith in her teammates that she felt that she could rampage through Kiri and not need to worry about them or their reactions?

Did her effort to control herself have emotional or logical reasons? Though Ryuishi had at first appeared to be unlogical and highly driven by her emotions, Kakashi had begun to realize that she was actually very calculating and could be manipulative as well. Whatever her reasons for controlling herself, this served as a reminder of why his mission was so important for the village's safety and well-being. Without his presence, she may have lost it right there in the middle of Konoha. What news had she received that triggered her, anyway? He would need to keep an eye out for possible triggers and try to avoid them when she was around. Every time he began to slip up and relax around her, something happened that reminded him of just how dangerous she could be and how precarious his situation was. At least now she was safely out of Konoha and on her way to being some else's problem, though now he had to write up _another_ report for the Hokage, so in a way she was still his problem.


	2. Itachi's Shorty Short

Itachi

A mother led her upset, toddling son away from the dango stand and stopped once they were out of the other pedestrians' way. Bending down to look him in the eye, she gently said, "Itachi, I know you are upset, but you cannot use our clan's prestige to _demand_ that you receive someone else's dango."

"But mother – "

"But nothing," she interrupted him, "Our clan has a saying, 'Power and prestige come with duty and responsibility.' This means that we use our power and authority to _help_ others, not take what isn't ours."

Itachi was still upset, but his contemplation of Mikoto's words soon eclipsed his previous indignation. Seeing that her son understood, Mikoto took Itachi back to the clan compound.

* * *

As Itachi observed the hospital's staff, visitors, and patients from his perch in the waiting room, he realized that most expecting mothers had the father and often some other close adult friend or relative with them when the baby was about to be born. Shouldn't Father be here with Mother, then? Especially since, from what his chakra-enhanced hears could tell, his mother was in pain.

When the nurse finally told him that he could go in to see his mother and newborn brother, Itachi asked Mikoto about why his father couldn't be there with her, since other fathers were at least in the hospital. But his mother just gave him a tired smile and said, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, Itachi. Your father's job is important, and babies don't always come at the most convenient times."

Itachi could see the value in his mother's words, but as he looked down at his baby brother, he realized that the needs of his brother would likely come first for him. He figured that just one exception to the "Needs of the Many" rule would probably be okay. After all, hadn't his parents told him that he would need to be careful and help Mother take care of little brother? And he had been taught the "Take Care of Little Brother" rule first, after all. A small smile crossed Itachi's face. Yes, he would follow the rules his parents and the Academy had taught him, but rules could often be interpreted in many different ways. This was his interpretation, who else would know to gainsay him?

* * *

The clan elders had held another meeting, and Fugaku informed Itachi that the clan had decided that they could not trust the government to act in the clan's best interest. The more Itachi learned about clan-village relations, the more he wondered about why no one else seemed to take to heart the rules they had all learned as children. He had been taught to obey his parents, and to uphold the will of the clan, so he acted as a spy as they had asked. But he had also learned that the "Needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," and in this case, the needs of the village outweighed to needs of the clan. If only he could help the rest of the clan to see this as well.

* * *

Itachi ended the genjutsu and raised his sword. He had failed; it was all he could do just to keep Sasuke safe, let alone the rest of his family or the clan. At least, with this, maybe his parents would understand _why_ and rest in as much peace as possible. Father seemed shocked, dumbfounded even, but as the sword approached his mother, she simply smiled and said that she understood and was proud of him.

* * *

Author's Note: This is not meant to be from any specific fanfic or canon version of Naruto, but is just a thing for Itachi in general. I was basically just like, "You know, people are often hypocrites. What if the Uchiha had all these sayings and rules that they taught the children in the clan and Itachi really took them to heart, but most of the Uchiha either didn't or they bent their own rules beyond recognition?" And then I went from there and typed this all out.


End file.
